But I Do Feel A Little Teeny

So I Went To Chicago In 1940, I Think, '41, And The Photographs That I Made There, Aside From Fashion, Were Things That I Was Trying To Express In A Social Conscious Way.

I Suffered First As A Child From Discrimination, Poverty ... So I Think It Was A Natural Follow From That That I Should Use My Camera To Speak For People Who Are Unable To Speak For Themselves.

The Subject Matter Is So Much More Important Than The Photographer.

I Picked Up A Camera Because It Was My Choice Of Weapons Against What I Hated Most About The Universe: Racism, Intolerance, Poverty. I Could Have Just As Easily Picked Up A Knife Or A Gun, Like Many Of My Childhood Friends Did... Most Of Whom Were Murdered Or Put In Prison... But I Chose Not To Go That Way. I Felt That I Could Somehow Subdue These Evils By Doing Something Beautiful That People Recognize Me By, And Thus Make A Whole Different Life For Myself, Which Has Proved To Be So.

Washington, D.c. In 1942 Was Not The Easiest Place In The World For A Negro To Get Along.